The vampire closed her eyes, and shuddered. “They would have fried me alive with those balls of fire. I couldn’t run fast enough.”
When her eyes snapped back open, they landed on me. “If I wasn’t already dedicated to keeping you alive, I would be now. I’m in your debt. As we used to say centuries ago,a life for a life.”
My heartbeat slowed. “Thank you.”
She was right. I had revealed both powers for a reason, to save her and Flynn. At least something good had come out of it.
I gestured to the fae she’d recovered. “He’s alive?”
She nodded. “I think he got bit by something in one of those cells. But he’s breathing.”
As if Flynn knew we were talking about him, his eyes opened. A second later, he scrambled up off the ground, and swayed on the spot, disorientated and fearful.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’re safe.” I reached out to steady him.
When he recognized me, his shoulders loosened. “That place was a nightmare,” Flynn wiped his long, white hair away from his face. “We don’t have to go back, right?”
I shook my head. “No, we got the prisoners out.”
At the mention of the prisoners, I took in my surroundings for the first time. The cars’ headlights had been left on to illuminate our new surroundings after the others had driven through the warphole. The vehicles themselves were parked every which way on Nightdwellers’ lawn. Our healthy magicals were checking that the injured and starved were in no worse condition than when we’d retrieved them.
As we were in a mountain valley at night, it was cold, even in summer, and many of them were shivering. We needed to get them into beds, hydrated, and fed.
My eyes sought Alex before I remembered that he wasn’t there. Hopefully, he’d found Tiberius Thorn and other healers, because we’d need them.
“Simone, can you round up any other vamps who know the school well, and have them lead the way to the healing wing?”
“We don’t have an infirmary, but I have a better idea.” She darted off to confer with Francis.
My lips parted in surprise, but after a moment’s thought, her words made sense. Why would a vampire school have an infirmary? They were indestructible as long as no one decapitated them, stuck a stake in their hearts, or lit them on fire.
I lifted my hands and waved to catch everyone’s attention. “Where’s our healer?”
The woman who had identified herself as such at the fae academy stepped forward.
“Remind me of your name again,” I said wearily.
“Theodora. I’ve been a healer for decades.”
“Theodora, please follow Simone to a place where the injured can recover. Take a few able-bodied people to gather beds too.”
I paused. “Hey, Simone! One more thing?”
She was at my side in an instant.
“Does your school have a phone?” I asked, aware of how dumb my request sounded. But I honestly wouldn’t be able to locate one at Spellcasters, though I was sure the academy must have one.
Simone’s eyebrows pulled together. “The headmaster has one in his office. After I take the healer and ex-prisoners to Dracula Hall, I can show you.”
Alex had left me the number to Tiberius Thorn’s home, in case something terrible happened, or we needed specific supplies. As it was the dead of night, I had hope that the famed healer was there.
“That would be great.” I looked around at all the magicals being carried into the relative warmth of the academy. “I’ll come with you right now.”
Two hours later, it was going on three a.m., and I was blinking back tears.
How did healers do this every day?
We’d lost two prisoners already, and one was barely holding on. It didn’t help that we had no way to get them fluids, other than hold cups up to their lips. But most of them had been starved for days, and keeping water down proved difficult.
